Project SSSS
by Windfighter
Summary: Emil didn't believe in magic, but how else would he explain his sudden transformation?
1. The Awakening

Emil took a step back. The first rule for survival outside the cleansed areas temporary gone from his mind. The troll stopped in its tracks, turned its head towards Emil. It still looked horrible humanoid and Emil gulped as the two eyes glued themselves to him. He took another step back, instinctively moved his hand to where his explosives should be, only to be brutally reminded that he had forgotten to bring them, having woken up too late with an all too eager to leave Sigrun hovering over him like a hawk. The troll dragged itself closer to Emil with its hands. Its horrible disfigured, clawlike hands that still reminded all too much about human hands. Emil took another step back, lowered his hand to his knife. Maybe he could outrun the troll. Maybe, just maybe.

He didn't move. He felt his heart beat in his cheast, trying to escape, trying to get the blood to start up his legs. It didn't work. The troll dragged itself one meter closer, one more meter, and one more. Suddenly the claws was over Emil's foot, they wrapped themselves around his calf. He pulled out the knife, leaned down and buried the knife in the hand, screaming in pain when the knife cut through the troll's flesh into his own. The troll hissed, pulled back, the knife clattered on the floor and Emil's legs started moving on their own.

Emil ran. Silence laid thick behind him, but then he heard walls falling apart as the troll buried its claws in them, used them to propel itself forward. Emil ducked and the troll landed infront of him, turned around hastily even though its former two legs had grown together into an unrecognizable mass. Emil halted, turned around just as the troll's claws struck down from above and ran in the other direction.

"SIGRUN!"

He jumped over debris from the walls and then the troll was infront of him again. His chest was burning, his heart pounding, pounding, and he couldn't get enough oxygen to the blood. He turned back again.

"SIGRUUUUN!"

Another stop. The troll drooled and Emil took a step back, fell over a part of the wall and then the troll was over him, tried to bite down on him and he lifted his left arm to protect his face. His arm shivered as the troll bit down on it, started shaking violently. Emil felt the troll's teeth break lose from its mouth, he heard them fall to the floor beside him, but his eyes were locked on his arm.

The clothing ripped apart as the arm grew to twice its size, transformed to a lump that reminded him all too much about the troll infront of him and fell to the floor with a bang. Emil had enough sense to roll out of the way before it crushed him. He felt the arm pulsating as it rebuild itself and he wanted to look away but couldn't take his eyes off it. He heard the troll move, heard it prepare for another assault and what used to be his arm changed shape, formed itself into a blade. He couldn't tell what was going on, his arm moved by itself, stabbed the troll, cut through its body like it had been butter and Emil shivered when the blood covered him. The troll landed on both sides of Emil and he shrieked, pulled back, settled up, got to his feet.

His arm pulsated again and he grabbed it with his right hand, tried to hold it down as it started trashing around. It broke through the wall on his side, the ceiling started to crack above him. He tried moving away, but his arm jerked in the other direction and he had to let it go as the other wall broke as well. He tried to shield himself against the debris that came falling down with his right hand, but his left hand was quicker, reshaped itself again to form a shield between him and the debris. He ducked anyway.

The debris cluttered to the floor around him, and his arm started shaking violently again, reshaping itself, and Emil tried to get up, but his arm jerked again, forced him back down. He heard another wall break, and another.

"Stop it! Stopitstopitstopit!"

The arm formed itself to a lump again, fell to the floor. To the floor that was already weak from 90 years of neglect.

The floor broke. Emil screamed as he was dragged down through it, stopped screaming as his body hit the stone floor in the basement. He felt the arm shiver one more time, and then nothing, just darkness.

"...-il. Emil, you-..."

The voice faded in and out, Emil had a hard time focusing on it as fog still dimmed his mind. He felt hands pulling at his clothes, tried to wiggle away, but stopped as pain seared through his body.

"-n't worry. I'll br-"

He tried to force his eyes open but no luck.

"-move."

He heard steps moving away, and then darkness surrounded him again. He jolted awake not a minute later, shrieked in pain and quickly slapped his right hand over his mouth. The taste of blood filled his mouth and he turned his face to the side, threw up. His body shivered slightly and he slowly turned to lay on his right side, pulling his knees to his chest, careful not to move his left arm. He pulled his forehead to his knees, not caring that he got vomit and blood in his hair, and felt the shivering turning into trembling when he started crying.

"Emil, are you alright?"

He nodded at Mikkel's words, didn't move to face the Dane. He heard the debris sliding away as Mikkel made his way over and knelt down beside him.

"Where does it hurt?"

Mikkel's hands started examine him and Emil slowly relaxed, stopped crying. Then Mikkel moved back again.

"Emil?"

Emil moved his head back, so he could look at the Dane. He carefully dried his tears with his right hand, sniffled a couple of times and then fell quiet. Mikkel looked back at Sigrun and Emil slowly settled up as she came into view. She also knelt infront of him, tried to catch his eyes. He could see worry in them and he turned his head down, almost threw up again when he saw his bloody clothes.

"'s not..." he started and gulped. "It's not mine. There was... troll."

"Yes, I heard the trashing. Are you alright?"

Emil nodded and lifted his hand again to dry off the new tears that was forming in his eyes. Blood smeared over his face and Sigrun grabbed his chin, looked him deep in the eyes, examined his head with her other hand and then let him go.

"I don't believe this. Your head was smashed! Did you suddenly just... get better?!"

Emil's hand shivered as he lifted it, pulled the fingers through his hair and carefully pressed them against the back of his head. Then he let it fall down in his lap and shook his head. Sigrun got up again, made a frustrated move with her hands and kicked a piece of wood.

"Your whole _body_ was broken! I had to dig you out from under several tons of stone!"

"Do not exaggerate, Sigrun."

"Point is, you should not be okay!"

"My... my arm..." Emil started and clenched his right hand. "What's wrong with it?"

"There is nothing wrong with your arm", Mikkel said. "There is nothing wrong with any of you. Except that you will need a bath when we get back to the tank."

Emil swallowed and slowly turned his head to look at his left arm. He held his breath as it came into view and then looked at it, confused. He carefully touched it with his right hand, dragged it to his lap and gingerly moved his fingers. He released his breath, relaxed and then tensed up. Leaning forward another batch of vomit made it through his mouth and he started crying again. Mikkel and Sigrun looked at eachother, neither moving, neither knowing what to do. Emil calmed down after a couple of minutes and Mikkel pulled him to his feet, Sigrun made her way to the stairs and Mikkel motioned for Emil to follow their captain. When they got up Emil cast a glance towards the pile of rubble that buried the troll. He could see one of the clawlike hands sticking out under the debris and hurried his steps to get as far away from it as possible.

Lalli met them when they came closer to the tank, his hands quickly dancing over Emil to see where his maybe, kind of, one friend were hurt and when he didn't find anything he pulled his hand over Emil's mouth and cheek, drying off as much blood from his face as he could. Emil noticed how Lalli flinched a little as he lifted his left hand to pat Lalli's shoulder, and his hand stopped between them. Lalli looked at it, before carefully grabbing it and examining it. His eyes narrowed, and then he let go of Emil's hand again. Emil dropped it to his side, tilting his head a little.

"No lingering."

Mikkel pushed him forward and he almost stumbled over his own feet, but got the balance back in time. The medic ordered him to undress as he prepared the tub and Emil did so. He stopped when his pants dropped to the ground, examined his leg with his hands. Nothing. He bit his lower lip, his hands shaking slightly. He felt over the other leg as well, just to be sure, but nothing there either. His body started shaking and his breaths got shorter.

"Alright, hop in."

Mikkel motioned towards the tub and Emil complied. The water was cold and he shivered, tried to clean himself up as fast as he can, but was not approved by Mikkel. Lalli helped him and Emil smiled at the Finn.

"Payback from before, ey?"

Lalli didn't answer, his eyes narrow, as if he was focusing on the task at hand, but Emil could tell there was something else as well. His fingers had started going numb when Mikkel finally approved and let him out of the water, wrapped him in a towel and ushered him inside the tank. Emil tried to dry off, but his fingers didn't follow his orders and instead he sank down on his bed, wrapped the towel a little tighter around himself. Lalli came inside after him, climbed up to Sigrun's bed and sat there, looking at him.

"You're behaving weirder than usual, you know."

Still no answer. Emil moved his fingers, noticed the blood was back in them again and started drying off. Lalli continued looking at him, not moving, and Emil almost stumbled when he tried to put on some dry clothes.

"...Could you please stop that? It's unnerving."

Lalli turned away and Emil settled down on the bed again, looking at his friend.

"Why are you acting like this anyway?"

Lalli muttered something, but didn't give a clear answer. Emil was about to ask again when Mikkel entered.

"Your coat is damaged beyond repair, you will have to make do without a coat for the reminder of the expedition. Anyway, Sigrun told me how she found you..."

Mikkel started examining Emil more thoroughly than he had done inside the building and Emil squirmed between his hands. After what seemed like forever but wasn't more than ten minutes Mikkel let go of the Swede again and Emil made himself more comfortable on top of the bed.

"This is highly irregular. What happened in there? The way the building was trashed suggested you would be at least harmed to some degree..."

"I... don't know", Emil's hand clutched around his calf. "There was so much going on I didn't have time to take it in. I... uh... I think I dropped my knife in there..."

Mikkel let out a sigh.

"I will tell Sigrun, and then we will see what our next course of action should be."

Mikkel left the room and Emil leaned towards the wall, let out a sigh and looked at Lalli.

"I don't think I could have described what happened anyway. What was that even? Was I hallucinating?"

Lalli shrugged. Emil wasn't sure if the mage had understood him or simply didn't know what to say. Emil shook his head and looked towards the ceiling. This expedition was just one disaster after the other.


	2. The Betrayal

Emil dreamt that night. He was caught in a room with fire spreading around him, reaching the ceiling. He coughed, called for his mother, but didn't get an answer, just faint sounds of people crying. His face was wet and he ran to the door, tried to open it, but it was stuck, his hand burned on the iron handle. He winced, screamed, backed away in panic. His body got caught in something and he whirled around, got a hot curtain rod in his head and fell over. The ceiling creaked and he looked up in horror.

Next thing he knew he was in a white room. People flocked around him, words he couldn't quite make out flew over his head. Doctors? The room faded from his mind.

"Emil? Darling, are you awake? It's your mother."

Emil opened his eyes, looked at the woman next to his bed. Quickly moved away from her, shaking his head.

"Don't worry honey, they told me you'd be confused after all that happened."

She lifted her hand, stretched it towards him, and he lifted his own hand, tried to push hers away. But there was no hand. Emil's eyes widened as he stared at the missing left arm. He shook his head again, backed away further, screamed and fell out of his bed.

"Oh, hi Emil!"

Emil blinked. Carefully lifted himself off Reynir. The others moved in their beds and Emil blushed, tried to crawl back into his own bed but got his feet tangled up in his blanket and fell down over Reynir again. Light flooded the room and Reynir laughed nervously under him.

"A-ha, Emil, this is nice and all, but what's even going on?"

"Sh-shut up!"

Emil detangled his legs from the blanket and managed to settle up over Reynir's legs. He was awfully aware that everyone was staring at him and his cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

"Nightmare, city-boy?" Sigrun asked and Emil nodded then shook his head. She looked at him and he got up from Reynir, settled down on his own bed. He let his right arm trail along his left, looked at the two hands in his lap.

"I don't know..."

There was scritching on the door and Emil flinched, earning himself a pat on the head when Sigrun jumped down from her bed.

"Seems scout-boy is back. Come on, fuzzy-head, we need translations!"

Emil sat quietly on the bed and watched as the others walked out to hear what Lalli had seen. He clenched his hands, stared at them. Let his right hand trail his left arm again. Nothing, just a nightmare. Nothing more. He swallowed as he remembered the troll from the day before. Just a hallucination, he must have hit his head on something. He pulled his fingers through his hair, felt around on the back of his head.

 _Your head was smashed!_

He swallowed again, shook his head. Got up from the bed and was about to head out to the others, but collided with something and landed on his back.

"Oh, hi Lalli."

Lalli took a deep breath, looked at the ceiling and then back at Emil.

"Allt väl?"

Emil smiled at his friend's Swedish words and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I didn't rush out to meet you. I, uh... had a lot to think about."

Emil looked away and Lalli crouched infront of him, placing a hand under his chin and forced him to look Lalli in the eyes.

"Din arm."

Lalli poked Emil's arm and Emil tried to look at it, afraid it was changing again, but Lalli held his chin in a firm grip and he couldn't move his head. Emil shrugged instead.

"I don't really know what you're asking about."

Lalli leaned closer.

"Weird spirits."

Emil blinked at the Finnish words he still couldn't understand. Lalli's eyes narrowed, and then he pulled back, grabbed Emil's hand. He started whispering, almost singing, in Finnish and Emil relaxed to the sound, then tensed up. His arm was pulsating again, he could see it moving underneath the shirt, see it changing shape. He tried to pull free, but his arm didn't move. Instead he pushed Lalli over, got up and ran outside. He didn't run for long, and stopped just about 20 meters from the tank, where he leaned against a tree and looked towards the sky. He looked at his hand, pulled up his sleeve. Nothing. Just another illusion? Was he going nuts? But, he reasoned, Lalli must have felt something as well.

He leaned his head back, slid down the tree and wrapped his arms around his legs. He shivered slightly in the night air and out of the blue a jacket landed over his head.

"Don't cry, Emil."

"...not crying."

Sigrun settled down next to him, tried to see what Emil was watching. He pulled the jacket closer, tried to get the warmth back. His captain made a gesture towards the tank.

"So what happened back there?"

"...nothing."

"You sure? I don't need my team members mad at each other."

Emil opened his mouth, thought about telling her she didn't say anything when Lalli threw food over him, and then closed his mouth. Instead he nodded, got back up. Sigrun looked at him, yawned.

"Alright then, let's get a couple more hours of rest before today's looting!"

She jumped to her feet again, strode back to the tank. Emil clenched his hand under the jacket and then followed her back, hung the jacket in the hallway before burying himself under his blanket. He felt Lalli looking at him, but made no move to acknowledge it.

 _I'll apologise in the morning, when we're alone._

He yawned, closed his eyes. He listened as the others fell asleep, was soon caught by it himself.

\- - DO YOU WANT POWER? - -

Emil settled up in his bed, breathing heavily. No one else moved and he looked around, tried to spot the owner of the voice. There was nothing in the room except for his sleeping comrades. He lifted his hand, wiped the sweat of his forehead. He could feel his heart racing and he got out of the bed, tried not to step on Reynir in the process. Emil made his way to he front of the tank, settled down in one of the chairs and leaned back, staring out through the window.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew Sigrun was yelling at him to get up and the sunlight flooded in through the window. He blinked, stretched and settled up. He looked around, not entirely sure what was going on, and Sigrun handed him a bowl of Mikkel's candle-stew before hurrying away again. He started eating, but immediately put the bowl down as he remembered there was something he needed to do.

"Tuuri!"

He almost slipped as he hurried up from the chair, but stayed upright and hurried outside. Tuuri and Reynir was sitting just outside the tank, deep in discussion, and Emil poked Tuuri's back.

"Tuuri, how do you say 'I'm sorry for this night' in Finnish?"

Tuuri looked stumped for a moment, tilted her head.

"You... wouldn't. Well, you could say 'anteeksi tästä illasta', but it'll sound weird."

"Antee... eeee..."

"Anteeksi tästä illasta." She shook her head. "Just anteeksi is enough. Why, did something happen?"

"Nnnn-no? Uh... Anteeksitäsäääää..."

Tuuri repeated the words again, slower, and Emil repeated them, two, three, four times.

"Good enough", Tuuri concluded and Emil went back into the tank, found Lalli in the sleeping quarter.

"Lalli! Uh..." Emil bit his lower lip and looked at his feet for a couple seconds, then looked at Lalli again. "Anteksi tää... eee... err..." He blushed. "Anteeksi för inatt..."

Lalli got up, patted his head and then settled down on the bed again. Emil looked at him for a while, before settling down next to him. Neither said something, content with just having the other nearby.

"Oy, Emil! You ready to head out?"

Emil's stomach grumbled and he realized he had forgotten to actually eat something. Sigrun peeked into the bedroom and gestured for him to hurry up.

"We don't wanna miss all the daylight! You really got to stop sleeping in so much."

Emil blushed, hurried to his feet and quickly put on his belt with explosives. Without the coat to cover him the belt and the holster-straps sat a little too loose, but he didn't complain.

"Are you going to be alright like that?"

"Don't worry, big guy, I'll keep him moving so he won't freeze to death!"

Sigrun patted Emil's back, forcing him to move forward.

"Come on now, let's go find your blade again."

The two of them left the tank. The area was calm, but Emil kept his eyes open in case the racket from the day before had lured any more trolls to the vicinity. Sigrun kept her hand close to her blade all the time, making Emil almost want to pull out his gun. Just in case. Twenty minutes of anxious walking later they arrived back at the building. Emil gulped as he got closer to it.

"You worried? I'll protect you!"

Emil tried to laugh.

"After yesterday I don't think any troll dare come near here!"

He forced himself to pass Sigrun and enter the building before her, but she was inside just seconds after him.

"Where'd you drop it?"

Emil looked around, tried to recognize what hallways he had walked through. He hesitated, but then he started walking towards the most trashed part of the building. Getting across the rubble wasn't easy and both Emil and Sigrun stumbled several times, getting small scrapes and bruises all over their bodies. Emil clenched his teeth as his body shivered underneath his clothes. He wiped the blood of a wound that was no longer there, and then a piece of the former ceiling slid under his foot, causing him to lose his footing.

"HELVETES JÄVLAR!"

Emil cursed loudly as a sharp piece of wood buried itself in his thigh. Sigrun was quickly at his side, turned him around and pulled the stake out. Emil slapped a hand over the wound, pondered if he needed to destroy his only remaining shirt to stop the bleeding. The shivering in his body increased, Sigrun knelt down infront of him, forced his hand away from the wound so she could inspect it. He trembled, couldn't hold still, and pressed his hands towards eachother.

"Emil..." she started, but grew quiet.

She opened her coat, started tearing at her shirt. Emil tried to talk her out of it, but the trembling in his body made it hard to talk. Sigrun tied pieces of cloth around his thigh, over the wound, then helped him to his feet, forced him to lean at her.

"We're heading back now, you'll be fine."

Emil shook his head, clenched his hand.

"Let's... let's continue."

"No, Emil. You won't be able to defend yourself if we meet a beast or troll, I'm not taking that risk."

"I won't be able to anyway, I need to get my knife. If a troll comes, just drop me and leave."

The two of them stared at each other, neither wanting to back down. In the end Sigrun let out a sigh.

"You're growing into a viking, city-boy. Fine, we'll get your blade."

Emil limped heavily, the trembling in his leg didn't make walking easier, but Sigrun took a sturdy grip around him and they slowly made their way over the collapsed ceiling. Emil swallowed nervously when they came up to where the troll laid buried and Sigrun released her grip around him, leaned down to inspect the troll. She looked at Emil when she was done, and he looked away, down the hallway, tried to figure out where among the broken walls his blade was hidden.

"So, what happened with the troll?" Sigrun asked when she grabbed Emil again.

"I... don't really remember..."

It wasn't like he could explain it anyway, was it? They continued down the hallway, Emil pointing out the way. His limping had gotten better and his trembling slowly subsided, until he pulled himself free from Sigrun's grip. She put her hands to her side, stopped in her tracks.

"It should be around here..."

She watched as he moved the debris, looking for the blade. He smiled proudly when he finally found it and showed it to her.

"Knew it'd be here!"

She walked up to him, pressed him against a part of the wall that was still standing. He blinked, watched as she undid the temporary bandage she had placed over his leg. She wrinkled her nose at all the blood, dried it off as well as she could and then stared at Emil. He looked down, slowly felt over his thigh and then looked at his captain again, shaking his head.

"I... I don't know..."

His voice trembled. She pulled out her knife, continued pressing Emil against the wall. She lifted the knife, slowly dragged the blade over his cheek. Emil winced as it cut through his skin, tried to pull free from Sigrun's grip and dry off the blood, but she didn't let him. She stared at him, and he felt energy rush through his body and the blood stopped dripping from his cheek.

"...What are you?"

"I... I'm human! Just like you!"

"Normal humans don't heal like that. Neither do mages. What. Are. You?"

"Human!"

She pulled him out and bashed him against the wall.

"Don't lie to me!"

Tears welled up in his eyes and he tried to break free again, was still unsuccessful. She asked him again, and he shook his head once more, was once again slashed in the face by her knife. His left arm started pulsating and he pressed it to the wall, breathed heavily and Sigrun's eyes got wider when the wound healed in just a matter of seconds. She pulled him out and bashed him against the wall a second time, harder, and his head spun. He barely noticed her letting him go and leaning down, pulling her arm behind his legs. The pain followed a second after as her knife sliced the back of his knees.

Emil looked at her, the pain not quite registering in his mind, and his legs gave way, made him fall. Sigrun backed away, looked at him. Turned and ran away. He dragged himself after her, felt blood gathering around his legs. Debris cut through his shirt, his pants, his skin, but the smaller wounds healed quickly. His legs trembled, his whole body started shaking, but he tried to pull himself forward, had to catch up with Sigrun, had to _explain_ , but how could he explain what he didn't understand?

He breathed heavily, stopped moving when he heard sounds in the distance. An engine starting up, roaring away.

They had left. Sigrun had abandoned him.

He closed his eyes, the trembling increasing, increasing, and darkness swirling in the outsides of his consciousness.

\- - DO YOU WANT POWER? - -


	3. The Contact

People rushed between computers, carefully avoiding collision by a hair. Shouting echoed through the walls, but silence spread when the door opened, revealing a man with long, golden hair. He stopped in the middle of the room, waited for all movement to cease.

"What is going on?"

The people looked at each other, not sure who should give the news, but after a minute an older woman left the crowd, walked up to the man.

"The subject, Núll. The subject has awakened."

Núll pushed the woman to the side, made his way over to the largest computer and looked at it, studied the numbers flying over the screen.

"Where is it?"

"We... we don't know", the woman's voice trembled. "It isn't where it should be. We're trying to get in touch with our contact right now."

"Why are you just standing around then? Get to work!"

Núll glared at the workers and they started rushing again, a few of them grabbing phones and radios. Núll stopped behind a young child who eagerly peered at the computer infront of her. He laid a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to talk with her.

"Which one is it?"

"The knight, sir. The knight has awakened!"

"We've got her! Our contact is on the line!"

"Find out where the subject is, I want it brought in and examined!"

"Alright sir!"

Núll patted the girls shoulder and got back up, waited for comfirmation about where the subject was so they could bring it in. He watched as his colleague continued the conversation, his face slowly getting dimmer. With two large steps he was by his colleague's side and grabbed the phone from him.

"Where is it?!" he demanded.

"He", the voice in the phone trembled, "he's in the Silent World."

"...WHAT?!"

"His uncle... I... I couldn't stop him!"

"You let very advanced technology that _you_ were in charge of just _walk away_?"

"He didn't listen, what was I supposed to do? Lock him in the basement?!"

"If that was the only way to contain it, _yes_!"

Núll slammed the phone and sank down in a chair, massaging his temples. Then he looked at the person standing closest.

"We need to go out there and get it."

"Sir, it's the Silent World, we can't just..."

"Of course we can! Just dispatch the helicopter!"

"But we don't know where in the Silent World it is."

"Then you'll just have to _look for it_."

He grabbed the man by his collar and threw him out of the room.

"And don't come back until you've found it!"

The door closed with a bang and Núll stepped back into his own office. Silence laid thick in the computer room, no one dared move. The girl leaned back in the chair.

"You really should keep better track of your pets."

"You're not helping, Græn."

The girl got up, smirking at the person talking to her.

"It's not _my_ job to keep track of your pets. _I've_ got my own research."

Græn left the room, followed the corridor to another facility. She nodded towards some of the children she passed, but didn't disturb any of them and instead hurried into a room with her name on the door.

"It's time", she said as she opened it. "Are you ready for your first assignment?"

A large man, about 2 meters tall with wide shoulders and his face covered behind a mask, looked up from the floor, met Græn's eyes. Slowly he nodded and she turned around again, didn't look to see if he followed him. She hurried back through the corridor, heavy steps following her. She didn't go back to the room with the computers, instead she continued, turned north and then turned east at the next intersection. The man was still after her, not saying a word.

They passed through two large doors and finally reached a large, open area. Græn gestured towards the helicopter on the other side.

"Don't let them leave without us."

The man rushed over the area, faster than her eyes could follow. He entered the helicopter, pulled the pilot away from the joystick. Græn walked slowly over the area, entered the helicopter. The people looked at her as she settled down, fastened the safety belt.

"You have no chance of capturing the subject without me", she stated and nodded to the man. The pilot was released and the man settled down next to Græn. "You may start the engine now. Well done, Ryavan."

The man nodded, but still didn't speak. Slowly the other passengers got to their seats, buckled in and the pilot started the engine. Græn looked through the window as they lifted, watching as Iceland got smaller underneath them. As they flew over the coastline everyone put masks over their faces, incase they would encounter the Rash. Græn took off the safety belt, got up to the window, and Ryavan held her arm as she peered out.

"Is this the ocean?" she asked, not turning around.

"It is, Græn."

Græn nodded at the female voice, recognizing it as Kristín, one of the military they kept around the facility. They had talked on other occasions, although Græn rarely listened to the older woman. Græn kept her eyes on the ocean, her eyes glistening. She had never before seen the ocean, having grown up at the facility and spent most her time in her room, working on Ryavan. She nodded at the man and settled down in her seat again.

"So what are your plan when you find the subject?" she asked Kristín, leaning back in the seat.

"The nets are prepared, we will catch it and bring it back to the headquarter."

"It has awakened, you will find it quite hard to catch."

"We are prepared for that", Kristín nodded to one of her subordinates, who opened a hatch in the helicopter, revealing a large amount of artillery. Græn whistled at the sight, but then let out a laugh.

"You might find that weapons will not be enough to stop it."

"...What are your suggestions then, Græn?" Kristín asked. "Let you and your... experiment take care of it?"

"You've got nothing to lose on it."

"Except my grade and reputition. I will not let a _child_ rush headfirst into the battlefield."

"You might only see me as a child, but with Ryavan I am so much more."

"You should not put all your faith in your machines, Græn. Humans are capable of more than someone your age could understand."

Græn crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay then, I will allow you the first strike. If you can't take it down, I'll do it instead."

Kristín looked at Græn, tried to decide if it was worth diving into another argument, but came to the conclusion that it was better to just accept the girl's... offer. She nodded and Græn turned to her creation, beaming.

"Are you happy, Ryavan? You'll be able to show everyone what you're made of!"

Ryavan nodded. Græn looked at the ocean below them again, at the large creatures patrolling beneath the surface. Rash-creatures. Infected whales. Sea-monsters.

Early subjects.

Græn smiled. She was glad she hadn't been around when the outbreak occured, although if she had been it probably wouldn't have gotten so out of hand, she was certain of it. She had heard of the technology the old worlders had had access to, knew that if she was able to create something as complicated as Ryavan with _today's_ technology, just imagine what she could have done with _yesterday's_. She let out a smile and then shrieked happily.

"Is that it? Are we there now?"

"That's the coast of Norway", Kristín told her before turning to the pilot. "Make sure you keep away from any inhabited areas, we don't want to be seen by too many people."

The pilot nodded, steered away from the village they had been closing in to. Græn kept her eyes on the land, looked in awe at all the mountains.

"It's beautiful..."

"Keep your head out of the clouds, Græn. You will be returning to HQ with us after the mission is over."

"I know", Græn leaned back again. "I'm just admiring it while I can."

They followed the coast for six hours, stopping a couple of times to refill the fuel. Græn and Ryavan wandered a couple meters away from the helicopter to examine their surroundings, but everyone else in the crew stayed near the helicopter. Eight hours after they left Iceland they reached the landmass known as Denmark. Kristín went up to the pilot, pressed some buttons and a soft beeping echoed through the helicopter. She settled down in the seat next to the pilot, kept her eyes at the ground below them while listening to the beeping. They sweeped over Copenhagen, the beeping still soft, and then started flying further into the country. Græn looked at the passing country as they flew over it, not listening to the conversations of Kristín and the pilot. Ryavan sat quietly in the seat beside her, awaiting any orders she would give him.

Slowly the beeping increased. Kristín yelled orders to her crew and Græn's hands started shaking with excitment.

"They won't make it, soon it'll be our turn."

Ryavan nodded and both of them waited. The helicopter hovered over a ruined building and Græn looked out at it, let her eyes sweep over the surroundings. Everything was a mess, the buildings were barely standing, trees had started growing in several off them, moss covered practically all surfaces. One building in particular was in a very sad state – most of the roof had fallen in, only three of the outer walls was still standing, the interior laid buried under tons of debris. And in the middle of it she could see a creature.

"...The subject."

Græn started trembling even more. Kristín yelled orders to fire and a net fell over the creature. It moved, Græn got up from her seat to see it clearer, but it didn't move.

"...has it already given up?"

Then, it's arm changed shape, slashed through the net. Kristín ordered her crew to fire another net, but it was destroyed before it even reached the creature.

"The guns, get the guns!"

"Ryavan, I think it's our turn."

Ryavan got up from his chair, the military crew grabbed the guns and prepared to fire them towards the subject. Græn climbed onto Ryavan's shoulder and watched as the subject grabbed something from the ground, watched as it's arm changed shape to be able to fire of the projectile. Ryavan jumped out of the helicopter as the subject fired, the projectile severed the rotor blade from the helicopter. Screams echoed through the air as the helicopter fell out of the sky, but Græn didn't listen to them, her focus on the subject on the ground. It turned around, looked at them, its golden hair dancing as it moved.

Ryavan landed on the ground, causing it to shake, just as the helicopter chrashed into a building behind them, exploding. The subject flinched and Græn slid down from Ryavan, took a step towards the subject.

"Subject E-73, I've come to take you back."


	4. The Delinquent

"Subject E-73, I've come to take you back."

Emil stared at the girl. She didn't seem to be much older than his cousins, her shoulder-lenght hair red as autumn leaves. She held her head high and looked at him like... Emil wasn't sure. Like he was beneath her? His hand fell to his side and he looked at the destruction behind the girl, started moving towards it. The large man that had accompanied the girl was suddenly in his way.

"Move it, they might be hurt!"

The man's fist hit him in the stomach and he took air, landed back in the broken building, tried to regain his breath. There wasn't enough time, the man was over him again, striking down against his ribs faster than Emil could react. His ribs broke, one of them cut through his lung and the girl called the man back. Emil coughed blood, but pulled himself to his feet again. He tried to talk, but was unable to. His body started trembling again and he fell to his knees, screamed as the bones realigned again. The trembling subsided and he got up, spit some blood to the ground.

"Are you crazy? We need to see if there's any survivors!"

The man was behind him. Emil swirled around, his left arm pulsating, growing. He caught the man's leg and threw him over his shoulder, into the only wall that was still standing. The wall fell over the man.

"Ah... AH, I'M SO SORRY!"

His arm regained its normal shape and he rushed to the wall, started pulling bricks and wood from the pile. A strong hand wrapped itself around his arm and once again he flew, landed with his back against a tree, upside down. He slid down the tree, hit his head on a rock and fell onto his stomach. He groaned, rolled over. The man was already there, grabbed his collar and pulled him up. The girl giggled.

"Great Ryavan! Will you follow along, subject E-73, or do we need to force you?"

"I don't know who you are", Emil tried to pull away from the man, but was unsuccessful, "but you seem to have mixed me up with someone else! I'm not a subject!"

"But you _are_ ", the girl said. "You're not much different than Ryavan here."

"Look, I don't know who you are and what you're doing all the way out here, but you need to let me go so I can look for survivors from the crash!"

The girl came up to them. She looked extraordinary short beside the man, and Emil kicked again, tried to break free from the man's grip to get down on eye-level with the girl. He would make her see reason. The girl looked at him, smiling.

"It's so fascinating, Ryavan, isn't it? Just look at it, you wouldn't think there was anything odd about it at all if you met it in the streets."

Ryavan nodded. Emil's arm pulsated again, grew, and he struck down on Ryavan's arm, made the taller man release him. He ducked, tried to rush past the man, his transformed arm grabbing something from the ground as he moved. Ryavan didn't move, and then he was suddenly infront of Emil again, lifted the Swede from the ground. Emil felt his arm transforming, felt whatever he had picked up get sucked into his arm. His eyes widened when he understood what was going on and he tried to break free, try to hold his arm back, but it was stronger.

A hole opened up right above his wrist and a loud bang echoed over the area. Ryavan flew backwards, as did Emil. The girl's smile faded as the two men flew, and she turned around in horror when they were halfway through the air. As Emil hit the ground she had started running after Ryavan and Emil looked at the man, looked at the hole in his chest. He could see wires sticking out, pieces of jagged steel. As he got up the girl had reached Ryavan's side, her hands pulling at him, examining him. Emil wavered a little, dizzy from hitting the ground, and slowly walked towards the girl and Ryavan.

Emil stumbled, got up, and then fell over again. He could see the girl shaking her head, her red hair dancing over her shoulders, her fingers pulling at the wires in Ryavan's chest.

"You're going to be fine..."

Emil could hardly make her voice out, but it sounded different than before, sounded more human, more fragile, and he forced himself up again, walked past the girl and the man. He had to look for survivors from the crash. He pulled off his belt with explosives, dropped them next to the man, and started running towards the fire.

"Is there anybody there?!"

No answer. The flames reached high, but Emil tried to get closer, was pushed back by the heat. He strained his eyes trying to spot anyone in the wreckage, but nothing.

"Can you hear me?!"

"Ryavan..."

The girl's voice. Emil turned around, looked at her. Her eyes were tearing up, she fell to her knees and leaned towards Ryavan. The man didn't move, and Emil slowly walked towards them. The girl's shoulders were shaking and he knelt down beside her, put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched, took hold of his explosives and pulled away from him.

"NO!" she shrieked, her voice high. "This is your fault! If you had just come along quietly he wouldn't have had to die!"

Her hand shivered near one of the grenades, and Emil stayed still, swallowed.

"I... I didn't mean to..."

"No! I don't want to hear it!"

Emil looked at the man, slowly raised his hand to close the man's eyes. The girl looked at him, her hand still close to the grenade.

"Perhaps... Perhaps giving him a proper burial will give you a sense of closure. How does that sound?"

Her hand rested on the grenade and she shook her head violently.

"No, I want him to live! I _need_ him to live!"

"I'm sorry, I can't fix him, I'm not a doctor..."

"He doesn't need a doctor, he needs _me_! And my lab! And I... I..."

Her eyes fell on the burning helicopter, new tears running down her cheeks. She pulled out the grenade, lifted it.

"I can't get there because of _you_!"

She brought her arm further back, her body shook and then she fell to her knees. Emil got up, rushed towards her. Took the grenade from her and pulled her into a hug. She grabbed onto his shirt, buried her head into his shoulder and he carefully put the grenade down, gently caressed her back. After a while she pulled away, looked away from him. Emil grabbed a plank, started digging in the near frozen ground. Splinters got stuck in his fingers, his arms hurt from the exercise, but he didn't stop until the hole was deep enough. The girl turned back when he started moving Ryavan's body and she looked at him, her eyes tearing up again.

Emil continued working with the body, tried to get it down into the hole, and then he felt her at his side, helping him even though her tiny body couldn't do much. They gently lowered the body into the hole, Emil crossed the man's arms over his chest before climbing back up. He stood quietly by the grave, the girl shaking beside him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know him... Would you like to say something?"

She fell to her knees, grabbed a handfull of dirt.

"Ryavan... I'm sorry it had to come to this."

She dried her eyes, dropped the dirt into the grave, then got up again, walked away. Emil looked after her, dried his own tears.

"I'm sorry, Ryavan. I didn't mean to kill you..."

He started filling the grave. The work held him warm, but night was falling and he needed to find someplace safe for himself and the girl, if she allowed him to. When the grave was filled up again he knelt next to it.

"I'll keep her safe for you, even if it kills me."

He got up, went to the girl's side. She didn't move to acknowledge him, but Emil was certain she felt his presence.

"My name is Græn."

She pulled her fingers through her hair, and Emil looked at her, looked at the destroyed building infront of him.

"I'm Emil, Emil Västerström. I wish we would have met under different circumstances."

"No, you don't."

She started walking. Emil looked after her, hurried his steps to catch up with her. They walked in silence, neither knowing where they should go.

"Am I your captive now, E-73?"

"I think I'd prefer if you were my friend. But you have to stop calling me E-73. I told you, my name is Emil."

"Ryavan was my only friend..."

"It doesn't have to be that way."

They continued in silence for about 10 minutes, then the girl stopped, her eyes on Emil.

"I don't know how friends work."

"Well, to start with, they call each other by their names."

"I've always known you as Subject E-73. One of the E-series. Most of those have died now."

"I'm going to want to know more about that later, but for now..." Emil held his hand out to the girl. "My name is Emil Västerström, 19 years old, part of the Swedish Cleansers and currently stuck in the Silent World together with... well, with you, Græn. And my current plan of action, if you want to follow along, is to find the rest of my team."

"Your team?"

Emil didn't pull his hand back, still waited for the girl to take it, and nodded.

"You didn't think I was out here all alone, did you? We got seperated by mistake, but we were heading towards Odense, so they should be there."

The girl looked at his hand, in his eyes and then at his hand again. Slowly she lifted her own and grabbed it. Her grip was firm.

"Emil Västerström, I am glad to meet you. My name is Græn, and I will be... delighted to accompany you through the Silent World."


End file.
